Fish fleeing drying rivers

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As a drought continues on P.E.I., fish are getting hard to find in the province's rivers.

"If you were taking a shower and all of a sudden the shower got right right warm and started to get too hot, what would you do? Stay under it or would you back out?" said Bill Warren, president of the Prince Edward Island Bait Fisher's Group.

"That's basically the same as what fish do."

Without rain the water level in rivers falls, and with less water in the streams it's easier for the sun to warm them up. The fish retreat to cooler waters up near the springs or closer to the ocean.

Cameron Ross, an avid fly-fisherman, is not having much luck this month.

"This hot dry weather is nice for the tourists but not so nice for the farmers and the fishermen," said Ross.

"Last year we seen quite a decline and this year seems to be even more of a decline."

That's the kind of story Warren is hearing all across the Island.

"I'm worried about all fish in all Island rivers," he said.

"We can see the numbers drop drastically."

Warren said P.E.I. rivers haven't been this warm since the 1990s. He's hoping for rain, so the fish can go upstream to spawn.